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I’ve been wanting to do something a little different for a few weeks, especially as I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging again after giving it up for Lent. I probably would have blogged more upon my return but I had a crazy quarter — it’s amazing how having two classes “on the ground” (translation: in person instead of online) can kill one’s posting schedule!

I have a new ministry. My priest has asked me to help out the Spanish-speaking congregation that shares our building with some bookkeeping. It should be interesting givem that I don’t speak Spanish but accounting tends to be the same in every language — assets = liabilities + owner’s equity.

I start a new quarter next week. I’ll be officially taking Interpersonal Communication which is described thusly:

Uses theory and practice to develop self-awareness, confidence, and skill in communicating effectively, building healthy relationships with others, and managing conflict. Explores the impact of self-concept, perception, language, emotions, and nonverbal behavior on communication.

Additionally, I will be outlining the Business English book to prepare to challenge both quarters of it in the fall and winter. (I have to challenge it in a quarter in which it is offered.) It’s basic grammar so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

I’m apparently apolitical. I haven’t talked much about politics lately… mostly because I avoid consuming media that depresses me and everything involving 45 and his minions is extremely depressing. We actually *HAD* international goodwill under Obama and now the entire world is pointing at us and laughing because 45 throws tantrums over Twitter, shoves other world leaders out of the way so he’s at the front of the pack (this happened at the NATO meeting), is being sued by members of Congress for his fraudulent business dealings, and loses every court case with which he is involved.

Seriously, all my Republican friends are depressed as hell at what has become of their party, especially when Republican Congressional leaders are acting so incredibly unethically.

On my hook. Current crocheting projects include a pair of socks, a pussy hat (I’m apparently now the hatmaker for the Resistance!), a prayer shawl, a temperature afghan, and a baby blanket. I don’t have a lot of time to crochet these days so I’m aiming to finish the pussyhat and the baby blanket before the end of the year.

Shared Quote… From CarouselConductor, a poster in one of the subreddits I frequent:

Loss. Whether a death, estrangement, or any other kind.
Losing someone leaves a hole. This hole is in the shape of the person who is gone. It has ragged, bleeding edges that hurt with every movement. It’s hard to even consider this void, because even looking at it brings pain. All you can do is hope that something fills it in, because it’s too wide. Too deep. Too open.
And then time passes. You remember the person, talk about them, the good times, the bad. The bleeding edges are still painful, but somehow, you can approach them a little closer. It’s tender, but the bleeding has been slowed. The void is keenly felt, and you wonder what it will take for it to just go away.
More time passes. It’s not so bad, when you look at the hole, now. You might be wondering when it will fill in. If you get too close, you can still see the echo of the person who left the hole. Peering into it might still be too much, and nothing moves the same way anymore. But the bleeding has stopped and the pain isn’t there every time you move.
As even more time goes by, you start to realize that things feel different, but that raging pain is more of a distant ache, now. If you look at the hole, you find that the edges are scarred over. The void is still there. The shape of what made it is still recognizable. And then you realize that the hole is there, and it will always be there.
The topography of what makes you, you, has changed.
The ragged edges have healed over and you find that in that thing you thought was a bottomless pit of pain, there is now a well of memories. It’s up to you if you visit for a time, or simply walk on by.
Give yourself time for the hole to heal. And it will heal, regardless of abstracts like forgiveness, regrets, blame, or anger. Even if it doesn’t seem like it.
Please seek help when dealing with the trauma of loss. No one should go through grief alone.

Closing Notes: My kickboxing class was cancelled for the fall and they emailed me today to let me know that I have priority enrollment for a yoga class they are adding.

*facepalm*

My mom laughed at me when I told her, commenting that it’s another form of stress management. I looked at her and replied that I have a deep need to punch and kick things and they just took away my ability to do this!!!!

It was a dark and stormy night… Technically, it’s not dark yet but it’s been a very windy night. We’ve had gale warnings and there’s a small craft advisory out on the Sound right now. The rain seems to have passed but it was a good day to be inside!

Tea for two… or seven. My priest invited me and some of her other mom friends to a “mothers’ survival tea” today and it was wonderful. There’s a tea room on the second floor of a granary in the downtown area and it was a nice and intimate location for lunch. I had a lovely Caesar salad for my first course while others had a zucchini-pear soup or a casoulet. The tea sandwiches were excellent and the chocolate zucchini bread was excellent. I was bummed to have to leave early to go to a therapy appointment!

Grades are in. I have a solid 4.0 (all A’s, no A- at all) for the third straight quarter! I’m applying to be a tutor next year in my department because I loved working with my classmates in various subjects.

And for my troll, friends of mine who teach gun safety (including a few LEO’s) are quick to point out that people with concealed weapons are not helpful in this kind of situation because they add to the chaos and end up getting shot themselves.

Bad behavior. I’ve seen two instances of bad behavior in the 36 hours since the shooting in Alexandria. One was Newt Gingrich being interviewed and ranting about the radicalization of the far left. Yeah… the ones who have been fighting for gun control? Nice try.

The second instance of bad behavior was someone commenting that the Republicans deserved for this to happen because of what they’ve been doing to this country. Ummm… no. *NOBODY* deserves to be shot or to be in a place where someone opens fire.

One of the students from my entering class at UCSC was Gabby Giffords’ director of community outreach Gabe Zimmerman and was killed at that event where she was shot by Jared Lee Loughner. He was in a different residential college than I was so we’re not sure if I had any classes with him but he was friends with some of my friends. When Congressman Scalise was shot, Gabby was one of the first to speak out and her statement was powerful. Let’s follow her example and come together over this.

Looking out my window… cloudy. We had a little bit of sun but it got cold again.

I am thinking… about how I will structure my classwork this summer. I have an online class on interpersonal communications

I am thankful… that the Warriors annihilated the Cavs in the NBA championships. I’m a Bay Area native and I hate all Cleveland sports teams so I’m positively gleeful. This also means that my boys have avenged their loss in the championships last year. 🙂

One of my favorite things… clean sheets. I just made my bed with fresh sheets and am loving it. (It’s laundry day for Daniel and me.)

I am wearing… a long-sleeved berry colored shirt from Old Navy and jeans from Kohl’s.

I am creating… this entry. I turned my last PowerPoint presentation in last night and am DONE with everything for the quarter.

End of the quarter. I am two tests, two quizzes, a discussion post, a report, and an amended PowerPoint presentation away from being done with the quarter. The quizzes, discussion post, and report will be tackled on Sunday. PowerPoint will be amended either tomorrow or Saturday. The tests will be taken on Monday and Tuesday. After that, I AM DONE!!!

Unbelievable. I’ve been getting a lot of “On This Day” things on Facebook about Daniel this week because it has been 8 years (as of the 7th) since we were able to bring him home from the hospital. It’s so amazing to think that my tiny baby is now only a foot shorter than I am!

Getting fur out of my keyboard. Homer, my gorgeous grey loaner cat, is being extra affectionate tonight which is wonderful… except that my keyboard now has quite a bit of fur in it! *goes off to find a can of compressed air to clean it*

Looking out my window… sunny and in the 60’s. I might have to shave my legs so I can wear shorts tomorrow!

I am thinking… about the presentation I have to give on Thursday in my Intro class. I’m doing a PowerPoint presentation on the same topic so I’ll probably use the PowerPoint presentation to help me organize my thoughts.

I am thankful… I don’t have a heavy homework load due on Tuesday — Thursday is going to be crazy though.

My exhaustion level. Because of the holiday on Monday, I had a huge amount due on Tuesday. I tried to space it out as much as I could but it just took FOREVER to do everything that was due that day. I even had one assignment due at 11:55 p.m. that I had to turn in even though I knew it wasn’t my best work because I just hit a wall in brainpower and energy. There was nothing I could have done to improve it or make it better when I hit send on my discussion post for it and even though I could have looked at what other people had done and used some of their tricks, I just could not force myself to do any more work.

I got my grade on Thursday morning: 19/20 which was better than I was expecting. Then again, my instructor for the class has me for two “on the ground” classes this quarter (ones that meet in person) and she has watched me come to class looking like death warmed over.

An improvement? Daniel still does wake up in the middle of the night… but he’s gotten SO much better at going back to sleep in his own bed. He’ll do it largely on his own… with the exception of last night when he threw a tantrum about this with banshee-level screaming (6 inches from my head) at 2 a.m. because I moved him from my bed to his. NOTHING (short of calling in an old priest and a young priest to perform an exorcism) would calm him down so I got to lie in bed and listen to him howl, knowing that he was waking up my parents and I was helpless to get him to stop. Lovely.

Praying for a calmer night. He also had a massive meltdown today so hopefully he tired himself out sufficiently?

Summer plans. I was able to register for the online version of the Communications class I need to graduate. (It was the reason for the stupid placement test I had to take last week. Ugh.) I’ll be just taking that class (though it’s 5 credits so it’s not a small class) and also working through the Business English textbook to get ready to challenge both quarters of it in the fall and winter. The co-chairs of my program are not incredibly happy that I want to do this but both of them have had me in classes so I hope they realize that when I put it in my mind to something, I pursue it wholeheartedly and I crush it. I do have to pay for both classes even if I successfully challenge them but I’ll have resident tuition by that point so it will be infinitely cheaper than it is now.

Political take. I haven’t been blogging about politics since I returned from my Lenten break and the reason for that is that I honestly have too much on my mind and on my plate to provide any thoughtful discourse. I know it might not seem like it but I *DO* actually think out what I have to say and put effort into researching both sides of an issue. I simply do not have time to really do that this quarter.